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I pulled back when she reached for me, hesitating. “Wait. I want to share these, but I don’t want to forget them. These memories are precious to me. Don’t take the moments she took my heart.”
“Ari, you know since I took the ring, I have much more control. I won’t steal them. It is as if you are simply sharing them with us now. Your memories will remain.”
“Good. Take it all then, well, not certain moments between a man and his wife, understand? I’d hate for my king to feel inadequate.”
“Gods.” Valen rolled his eyes, but he hooked an arm around Elise, as if to prove she reveled in his touch.
Malin grinned at Saga. “You’ve truly won him over. The Ari I knew would certainly wish to flaunt such things.”
“My wife does not need to become a spectacle for others,” I said, taking Saga’s hand.
The words held meaning only the two of us knew, at least for now. No mistake, they’d all soon understand who Davorin was and why he deserved to have his manhood severed piece by piece for what he’d done to Saga.
“Understood.” Malin pressed two fingers to the center of my head, and closed her eyes until, after a moment, she said, “That’s strange.”
“What is?”
“I took the first part, but your sleep, I’ve never taken something like this. It is like a memory of a dream to you, but . . . it seems to be a true memory of someone else. It’s complex and bites a bit.”
“Mal,” Kase said, terse and deep. “Don’t strain yourself.”
Malin’s gilded eyes fluttered. She rolled them, only for me to see, and whispered, “Don’t let his frown fool you, he’s one big worrier under all those shadows.” She glanced back at her husband. “Would you like to do the memory snatching, Nightrender?”
“I’m just saying . . .” He made a waving gesture at her growing stomach.
“What? Something on my face?”
“Malin.”
A few snickers flitted around the group. Kase looked murderous.
Malin left me for a moment to kiss his forehead. “I’m fine, and I’m not even close to the line of our promise, Nightrender.”
“Keep it that way.” Kase’s eyes darkened, but he folded his arms and went quiet.
“What promise are we trying not to break?” I asked once she returned.
Malin’s smile faltered. “A promise that I’d stay clear of direct danger, even if it means leaving Kase. There’s more than just us now, and it was the hardest promise I’ve ever made with the man. I’m sure you can imagine what it was like to wait on a ship while listening to the sounds of battle in the trees.”
Saga had told me Malin was absent during the confrontation with Davorin. I could understand the feeling well. Even during a fae sleep, I knew Saga was fighting and risking her life while I could do nothing to stop it.
“If this is too much, you should stop. I can repeat what I saw as best I can.”
“I’m fine,” she insisted and pressed her fingers back to my forehead. “It’s just more difficult of a memory heist.”
Malin closed her eyes again and held the tips of her fingers to the center of my head. The ring on her center finger glowed like a lantern in the night. Her eyes whipped behind her lids, and when she opened them again, a new look of fear was there.
“All gods,” she whispered.
“As I said.” I didn’t blink as Malin gathered her wits. After a long, drawn moment, she went to the others.
Malin touched each royal’s head, then to Calista and Stefan. The storyteller paused, uncertain, but Stefan urged her forward. “Might learn something, Cal.”
Malin didn’t give much choice before she pressed the heels of her palms to their heads. “This is your gift, Calista,” she whispered, “you’re going to want to see its potential.”
Halvar, Kari, Junie and Niklas were offered a peek, but the Falkyn refused.
“I’ve been digging in this bastard’s darkness since I arrived. I know what he can do, and I don’t need convincing that we’ve all been brought here by some measure of fate. Known it since I found a boy who used shadows in my streets.”
